When it comes to bathroom style preferences, contemporary and transitional are neck and neck, according to the 2015 Kitchen & Bath Style Report released at KBIS (Kitchen and Bath Industry Show), and this isn’t likely to change much in 2015. But according to The Trend Curve’s Editorial Correspondent, Julie Smith Vincenti, some of themes worth tracking for the year ahead include:
– A rise in under-mount sinks in the bathroom
– Linen storage cabinets
– Open shelving solutions
– Freestanding, furniture-like vanities
– Lighting in showers
– Radiant electric floor heating
– Universal design elements, such as no-threshold showers
– In-shower benches and grab bars
– Comfort-height toilets and vanities
Hand-painted bathtubs and sinks were a niche category at KBIS 2015. Spain’s The Bathroom Collection presented a hand-painted porcelain sink that mimicked marble or perhaps even alabaster. (The company’s gold-rimmed white porcelain circular sink was noteworthy, too.)
Aquabrass unveiled three designs in its hand-painted, limited-edition Kanvas™ Collection of freestanding stone resin bathtubs. The urban Graffiti and Mosaic designs carry a $9,000 price tag along with the artist’s signature; the nature-inspired Pax design with its taupe toned reeds pattern is $8,000. On the first day of KBIS 2015, already four works of art were sold for design projects in urban markets.
KBIS returns to the Las Vegas Convention Center in 2016. The show will run Jan. 19-21.